Cheese products are widely consumed among households both domestically and abroad. Traditional natural cheese manufacturing processes involve acidification and coagulation of pasteurized milk, separation of the resulting curds from whey, and salting and pressing of the cheese curds to produce the finished natural cheese. A traditional known natural cheese manufacturing process is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, process cheese can be prepared by blending together natural cheese, emulsifiers, and other ingredients under conditions of heat and shear. Pasteurized process cheese can be heated to at least 150° F. for at least 30 seconds.
When consumers desire a melted cheese product, process cheese can provide certain advantages over natural cheese. Natural cheese that has been melted can have an uneven melted appearance and a tendency to undesirably oil off and solidify quickly upon cooling. In comparison, process cheese can provide a smoother melting product with less oiling off, that will stay creamier longer upon cooling.
Despite these technical advantages of process cheese over natural cheese, process cheese may be less desired by some consumers than natural cheese. For example, some consumers may not desire emulsifying salts in process cheese and prefer products containing more natural ingredients. In addition, process cheese generally contains higher levels of sodium than natural cheese since process cheese contains sodium-based emulsifying salts as well as sodium chloride. Additionally, emulsifying salts tend to modify the flavor of the natural cheeses and often provide a process cheese with a milder and saltier flavor profile, which may be undesirable to many consumers preferring a more natural and intense cheese flavor profile.
Prior attempts to provide a natural cheese product with improved organoleptic and melting characteristics have generally been unsuccessful. For example, dairy solids such as whey protein concentrate, dried whey, whey protein isolate, delactose permeate, casein hydrolyzate, milk fat, lactoalbumin, and nonfat dry milk have previously been incorporated into cheese products with the intention of firming the cheese, binding water, and improving the melted appearance of the cooked cheese. While it is often preferred to incorporate these dairy solids in the form of a comminuted solid, it can be difficult to get the solid additive thoroughly blended into the finished cheese. Pockets or deposits of the additive sometimes survive the cheese-forming operation. The presence of such deposits detracts from the appearance and mouth feel of the cheese, and can adversely affect the taste, texture and melting characteristics of the cheese product as well.
Attempts to address these problems and provide a cheese product with enhanced melting characteristics have been made. One attempt describes a method of preparing a cheese product in which a slurry, including water, milk and/or cream and one or more food additives, is combined with a cheese precursor and processed to form a finished cheese.
Another attempt describes a process for preparing a homogeneous cheese augmented with a food additive in the form of an undissolved solid. A cheese curd is prepared and then grinded while in admixture with either an aqueous solution of at least one cheese emulsifying salt or at least one food additive in the form of a comminuted solid, to obtain a ground curd that is impregnated with the emulsifying salt or food additive. The emulsifier/additive-impregnated ground curd is then formed into the finished cheese.
Yet another attempt provides a process for preparing a soft or semi-soft fibrous cheese (i.e., mozzarella, pasta filata, provolone, or pizza cheese) with enhanced melting characteristics, in which a cheese curd is prepared and then heated, kneaded and stretched to form a homogeneous, fibrous mass of heated, unripened cheese. A minor amount of one or more food additives is thoroughly mixed into the heated, unripened cheese, which is then shaped and cooled in a brine.
These prior methods have required additional ingredients or additional processing of the cheese curd, which may undesirably affect the texture and quality of the finished cheese.
Cheese powders, including, Parmesan, cheddar, Monterey jack, Romano, muenster, Swiss and Provolone, have been added to cheese products to impart a different flavors to the finished cheese product. For example, dairy powder coatings have been topically applied to cheese products. While a topical application of a dairy powder coating can be successful with crumbles, shreds, and cubes of cheese, which can be readily mixed with the dairy powder coating, such a topical application would not be particularly effective in sufficiently coating cheeses in larger forms that are not readily mixable, for example, blocks, wheels, slices, or the like. For example, a topical application of a dairy powder coating to a block of cheese may result in a block of cheese that having a visible powder coating thereon, which may not be visually attractive to many consumers.